7 Tips for a Safe Outdoor Camping Playspace for Toddlers
Creating a fun and safe outdoor play space for your toddlers is essential when living in an RV - most of your time is outside! Keeping them corralled near your camper takes work when there are so many distractions and new sights. We’ve compiled a list of essentials to create this space.
1 - RV Patio Mat
We love these because they create a visual boundary and clean floor space outside for the kids to sit and play. It helps to keep the camper clean as oftentimes it’s more natural to take your shoes off at the bottom of the stairs on this space. It can be a cool landing spot for bare feet if you are parked on hot asphalt as well. In our opinion, these can never be big enough - ours is 9’x18’ and I could go even larger. Oftentimes the designs of these are not very pretty - black checkers, odd floral designs, etc. - we found a patio mat that is functional AND looks good! Be mindful and respectful of campground rules as sometimes they don’t appreciate these for long stays on their well maintained grass.
2 - Toddler-Friendly Picnic Table
Just like in the home, family congregates around the table - it is the same way in the RV world. Many sites come with picnic tables, but a toddler friendly table in our opinion gives your little a place to congregate and keeps them safe. The amount of times our toddlers have (or almost have) fallen backwards or between an adult sized picnic table is ridiculous. We find we all sit around their little table more than the big tables. This table is a natural place for them to play with toys, do crafts and gather rocks on and is one of the first things that gets pulled out at our campsite.
3 - Mosquito Repellent
Mosquitos are a real problem with toddlers (especially if you are one who attracts them naturally, like our daughter). We hate to see our littles bit and subsequently itching. It’s also a challenge to find repellents that work and we don’t have open flame or burning coils near our toddlers. We’ve found the Thermacell Mosquito Repeller to be safe and work well. It has a 20’ range after about 15 minutes and is scent and spray free. Phew!
4 - Splash Pad
Not all campgrounds have pools and it’s important to keep your kids body temperatures in check when you spend most of your day outside. We like having a small splash pad on our campsite to cool off in the summer days. It also is a good way to invite other kids to play. We used to have a water table at our home, but they are so bulky and we didn’t have space in our camper for that, so an inflatable splash pad is our perfect solution! This is another one to be mindful of the campground rules though - and never leave it full while you are away or setup overnight out of respect for campground property.
PRO TIP: Hook your hose up to your outdoor shower valve (if you have one) so the water isn’t frigid cold on days where it isn’t that hot.
5 - Outdoor Toys
Because we spend most of our time outside, we subsequently have just as many, if not more, outdoor toys. Sensory kits are a huge hit with our toddlers - so I have kinetic sand (the natural color in case we loose some), rocks, molding clay, playfoam, paint, and play-doh. We have trucks, fairies, t-ball, Duplo Legos, balls, chalk, fishing poles, pop-up tents, and of course scooters/bikes. Give them a reason to WANT to be in your campsite and donate/freshen the toys every now and again.
6 - Kids Camp Chairs
We’ve actually had these for a while - our kids enjoyed sitting in their camp chairs in our living room at home! It gives them a comfortable place to rest. They love having an animal of their own.
7 - Set (& Remind of) Simple Rules in Advance
As I mentioned, we knew setting and reminding our toddlers of the rules would eventually stick. Our big is getting better, but our little is beginning to learn. This is a work in progress so we are very watchful of our toddlers when they are outside. These are our rules:
Stay in our campsite - even if a friend comes by, come see mommy and daddy first.
Provide boundaries for bikes/scooters - create imaginary lines in the road which have a visual aid (like a tree or friends campsite)
NEVER go in someone else’s camper - this is SO important, you never know sadly. I draw a firm line especially when they are this young and boundaries are still confusing. There are no exceptions.
Bonus! Playpen/Fence
We never got a playpen/fence for our toddlers because we didn’t expect them to stay in it, nor did we have the space to store it. If you have the space, this is probably a great, easy way to contain your toddlers! In our case, we knew setting and reminding our toddlers of the rules would eventually stick as we do this full time. Sometimes we wish we had room for a fence though!
Do you have other ideas for keeping toddlers safe in your campsite? Drop us a comment!
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